Tesla Sends Hundreds of Batteries to Puerto Rico

[n2doc]

Tesla is sending its Powerwall system to Puerto Rico as the island deals with widespread power loss in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

According to Electrek, the company has been quietly shipping hundreds of battery packs to be paired with solar panels to Puerto Rico ever since the storm cleared.

Fortune reported that Tesla employees are currently on the U.S. territory installing the batteries and repairing solar systems, as well as coordinating efforts with local organizations.


Much of the island's 3.4 million American citizens are currently without power and disconnected from modes of communication. Officials estimate that some areas will not see their power restored for months. As Climate Nexus pointed out, "the future of the island's bankrupt and corrupt utility and its fossil-fuel-heavy colonial legacy are now top of mind as experts and officials begin to tackle the best way to restore power and rebuild the island's power grid."

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https://www.ecowatch.com/tesla-batteries-puerto-rico-2490950539.html

[Dustlawyer]

1. Solar would be perfect for Puerto Rico to have all over with much less fossil fuel generation.

An island close to the equator is a no brainer and a great test of what solar can do for all of us!

[a kennedy]

4. Now here's an idea......complete solar on the Island, and they sell energy to the mainland!!!!!

A W E S O M E......they'd repay the debt they owe AND become self sufficient AND MAKE MONEY AS WELL. I see a win, win or them. Now, how do we get this baby off and running??

[Dustlawyer]

21. Elon Musk has a team over there now so I am sure they will do it.

Elon has the can do American spirit for sure!

[bluepen]

17. How would they hurricane-proof that?

And do you mean solar panels on every structure or solar plants that distribute power? (80% of their power lines are down.)

[Nevernose]

18. Europe buries power lines

Or tries to, whenever feasible. But that's the catch, isn't it? That costs a lot of money upfront, arguably the thing Puerto Rico has the least of. Naturally, hiring a bunch of people to spend years burying the lines would do wonders for the island's economy, but 90% of our D.C. politicians don't give a shit about a colony that's not generating money for the empire or is strategically vital in intimidating someone else's empire.

Power line issues aside, I wonder if there's not some way of replacing centralized fossil fuel plants with centralize solar, like Ivanpah, which could be made much less vulnerable to hurricanes. Offshore wind farms, too. Again the issue is upfront money. Long term it saves an island nation from having to import fuel and saves far more money than it costs, but they're already so far in the hole (and poor besides) that most companies aren't going to invest under any circumstances.

[bluepen]

20. Theres also the issue of digging on an island.

Specifically where it can and can’t be done. I live on a barrier island. There’s almost nothing underground here because you don’t have to dig far to hit water.

Also have to take into consideration how expensive it is to maintain underground lines. That’s what’s keeping a lot of Florida from doing it.

Complicated issue. They’ll just put the lines back up.

[Dustlawyer]

22. They can disconnect and take them down if there is enough time.

They unbolt and disconnect pretty easy and the frames would be ok. The panels are rated to 125 mph if installed correctly.

[malaise]

2. Off to the greatest page

Great news

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. Of course they are, they are patriots and humanitarians. Elon personally is probably

sending millions to all hurricane victims everywhere and insists that it be anonymous.

[Not Ruth]

5. Puerto Rico eliminates climate change- 2019 headline

Sometimes a curse is a blessing in disguise

[bagelsforbreakfast]

6. I'm so used to the unending crook and grifter news out of Trumpville that...

this is a PLEASANT REMINDER of what American and Americans can be.

[Not Ruth]

7. Elon is South African not American

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Wrong. You got it one-third right.

Elon Musk is a South African born Canadian and American citizen.

Early childhood

Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa,[29] the son of Maye Musk (née Haldeman), a model and dietician from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada;[30] and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot and sailor. He has a younger brother, Kimbal (born 1972), and a younger sister, Tosca (born 1974).[34] His paternal grandmother was British, and he also has Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.[35][36] His maternal grandfather was American, from Minnesota.[37] After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived mostly with his father in the suburbs of Pretoria.[35]

During his childhood he was an avid reader.[38] At age 10, he developed an interest in computing with the Commodore VIC-20.[39] He taught himself computer programming at the age of 12, sold the code for a BASIC-based video game he created called Blastar, to a magazine called PC and Office Technology, for approximately $500.[40][41] A web version of the game is available online.[40][42]

Musk was severely bullied throughout his childhood, and was once hospitalized when a group of boys threw him down a flight of stairs and then beat him until he lost consciousness.[38]

Musk was initially educated at private schools, attending the English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory School. Musk later graduated from Pretoria Boys High School and moved to Canada in June 1989, just before his 18th birthday,[43] after obtaining Canadian citizenship through his Canadian-born mother.[44][45]

Education

At the age of 17, Musk was accepted into Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, for undergraduate study. In 1992, after spending two years at Queen's University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where in May 1997 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from its College of Arts and Sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from its Wharton School of Business. Musk extended his studies for one year to finish the second bachelor's degree.[38][46] While at the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow Penn student Adeo Ressi rented a 10-bedroom fraternity house, using it as an unofficial nightclub.[38]

In 1995, at age 24, Musk moved to California to begin a PhD in applied physics and materials science at Stanford University, but left the program after two days to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations in the areas of the Internet, renewable energy and outer space.[41][47] In 2002, he became a U.S. citizen.[48][49]

[suffragette]

8. Now that is a creative and positive way to address the current crisis and develop a system better

For future needs.

K&R

[BigmanPigman]

10. MSNBC Chris Hayes just spoke with former D-FL senator

who said that what needs to happen is go solar when Puerto Rico is rebuilt. This needs to be combined with infrastructure throughout the US too! Of course the Donald "promised" to do this during the campaign but I guess he will get to it AFTER the 1% get richer.

[arthritisR_US]

12. I thought what he promised was to increase coal production

and shore up dirty industries.

[csziggy]

14. I thought that was current D-FL Senator Bill Nelson Chris Hayes was speaking to?

But I was not paying full attention.

[BigmanPigman]

15. Oh, I missed the beginning and read the bottom caption

and assumed he was a former senator. Thanks. That means his opinion has some influence I would think.

[csziggy]

16. I hope remains our senator - the RNC is bankrolling Rick Scott big time to run against Nelson

I've been trying to send Nelson money but for now that is on hold - medical issues.

[BigmanPigman]

19. I am in the same position for the same reason.

It sucks. If I were healthy and didn't have such huge medical costs I would be able to do so much more. I used to volunteer, etc. It is very frustrating.

[csziggy]

23. I'm getting a new aortic valve

Right now I simply have no energy, run out of breath sitting still, and just can't do much. Hopefully once my valve is replaced I will have a LOT more energy - so maybe by the time the 2018 campaigns get going I can volunteer and do more.

BUT when I started Medicare in July I signed up for a "gold" supplemental knowing that this was coming. That means money coming out of my account every month that could have gone to campaigns - but I will have effectively nothing out of pocket for the operation. I still don't know what medications I might be on afterwards - but I can change my pharmacy plan, I hope to one that is not terribly expensive.

[BigmanPigman]

24. I have a silver plan with ACA and my costs for

premiums, out of pocket expenses, and very, very expensive drugs is currently is 35% of my income. Now that plans are increasing due to 45s sabotage of the ACA my current medical expenses will increase to 50%.

They need to fix this problem!!!

[csziggy]

25. Yeah - with the Republicans in charge nothing will get better

They will not allow negotiations with drug companies to reduce costs and they will continue to disrupt the ACA if they can't repeal it.

Republicans don't fix problems - they ARE the problem.

Two of the drugs I was prescribed but had stopped using because of side effects I am no longer using - with them on my list it was going to cost over $1000 a month. I have a reasonable income but I could not afford that. Without those on my drug list my cost for a Medicare drug plan is $22 a month. The system is insane.

[YOHABLO]

11. Plenty of sunshine in PR they should go totally solar.

[rickford66]

13. What a marketing coup.

I fully endorse his action and definitely applaud the fight against global warming in connection with preventing future outages.